Championship Recap

Out of 347 D-I basketball squads, Syracuse finished 232nd in free throw
percentage at 67.5 percent. Through the first four games of the 2013 NCAA
Tournament, the Orange shot 67.5 percent from the charity stripe. In
WhatIfSports.com's 2013 championship game simulation, Syracuse only managed
to connect on 66.7 percent of their free chucks. The five misses cost Jim
Boeheim's guys a shot at cutting down the nets in Atlanta.

The first half was a classic Big East slugfest. Neither team held a lead
larger than six points at any point during the first 20 minutes. In fact,
the game was so close, nine lead changes occurred in the first half alone.
With the game tied at 29 and 70 seconds on the clock, James Southerland
buried a triple try to give Syracuse a three-point lead. Peyton Siva came
back down the court and knocked down a 14-foot jumper courtesy of an assist
from Wayne Blackshear. The Orange headed into halftime with a 32-31
lead.

The second half came down to which team would blink first. When you
break down any box score, a modest 10-5 run shouldn't jump out and scream
"game over!" However, in this contest, the five-point swing in favor of
Louisville, following a clutch three pointer off the hand of Russ Smith,
opened up a seven-point lead for the Cardinals, just enough to keep the
Orange from tying the game up or retaking the lead for the rest of the
contest.

Syracuse did have a couple cracks at making the game interesting late,
but a turnover and a missed C.J. Fair jumper in the final minute removed all
doubt. The Cardinals cut down the nets in Sim-lanta.